1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus including a video cassette recorder (hereinafter, referred to as VCR), a camcorder, and a digital video cassette recorder (hereinafter, referred to as D-VCR), in which two types of tape cassettes can be used. More particularly, the present invention is directed to an opening device for opening a lid of a tape cassette in a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus, in which a structure of the opening device is simplified, resulting in decreased manufacturing costs and being easily installed in a narrow space so that a deck of the magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus has a compact size.
2. Description of the Related Art
In association with various recording and reproducing apparatuses, including a VCR, a camcorder, and a D-VCR, the recording and reproducing methods of each recording and reproducing apparatus require different shaped tapes.
Therefore, various attempts at using different sized tapes in a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus have been tried along with technical improvements of magnetic recording and reproducing apparatuses.
FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show tape cassettes having different sizes. Hereinafter, a tape cassette C10 being relatively large in size is referred to as a standard tape cassette while a tape cassette C20 being relatively small in size is referred to as a small tape cassette.
As mentioned above, in a typical magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus in which the standard tape cassette C10 or the small tape cassette C20 is selectively used, the standard tape cassette C10 or the small tape cassette C20 is horizontally and vertically conveyed by a cassette holder and combined with a reel assembly.
When the standard or small tape cassette is combined with the reel assembly, a tape is extracted from the tape cassette. Therefore, the lid of the standard or small tape cassette must be opened in order to extract the tape. Generally, the lid of the standard tape cassette or the small tape cassette is opened by a lid opening device during the loading operation when the cassette is conveyed downward with the cassette holder.
Hereinafter, a conventional opening device for opening a lid of a tape cassette will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in FIG. 3, the opening device for opening the lid of the tape cassette according to the conventional art includes a first opening member 10 for opening the lid C11 of the standard tape cassette C10 and a second opening member 20 for opening the lid C21 of the small tape cassette C20. The first opening member 10 and the second opening member 20 are arranged on and fixed to a main base by a general fixing member, for example a screw 2 and 3, etc. The first opening member 10 and second opening member 20 are separate parts which are fixed to the main base apart from each other at a predetermined distance. The lid opening pins 11 and 21 of the lid opening members 10 and 20 have a different height, corresponding to a difference between the heights of the lids C11 and C12 of the tape cassettes C10 and C20. A reference numeral 4 indicates a rotating head drum.
In the opening device for opening the lid of the tape cassette as described above, when the standard tape cassette C10 or the small tape cassette C20 is moved downward, the lid opening pin 11 or 12 of the first opening member 10 or the second opening member 20 pushes upward and opens the lid C11 or C21 of the standard tape cassette C10 or the small tape cassette C20. As the downward traveling of the standard tape cassette C10 or the small tape cassette C20 is completed and the lid C11 or C21 of the standard tape cassette C10 or small tape cassette C20 is completely opened, the operation of extracting the tape from the standard tape cassette C10 or the small tape cassette C20 can be carried out.
However, in the conventional opening device there are disadvantages in that since the first opening member 10 and the second opening member 20 are separately made in order to open the lid C11 or C21 of the tape cassette C10 or C20 and furthermore are secured by the fixing screws 2 and 3 to the main base 1, the number of parts is increased, the manufacturing cost is increased, and a working efficiency is decreased.
Also, there is another problem in that space is specifically required for respectively mounting the first opening member 10 and the second opening member 20; therefore, it is difficult to have a compact sized deck for the magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus.